Baby, It’s Cold Outside: A Cheese Board for Winter Entertaining

Lisa Dawn Bolton

There’s something particularly appealing to me about entertaining when it’s cold out—greeting guests shaking off snowflake-dusted hats and sipping a big, bold glass of cabernet while enjoying the aroma of hearty goodness simmering on the stove. This is a starter board that kicks off an evening with a hearty meal to follow. The goat cheese is dressed up with a sweater of crushed nuts and dried cherries. The Wensleydale cheese is infused with cranberries to mark either the start of the holidays or their conclusion.

Serves 4

• 2 cups assorted nuts with dried cherries
• 5 ounces honey chèvre
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 8 spiced Sicilian green olives, pitted
• 8 Castelvetrano olives
• 8 assorted red olives
• 5 ounces Wensleydale cranberry cheese
• 12 slices herbed salami
• 12 slices Schinkenspeck
• 4 caper berries
• 4 dried apricots
• 16 breadsticks

Prepare a coating for the chèvre: Scoop 1/4 cup of the nuts and dried cherries into a small resealable plastic bag. Using a heavy-bottomed glass, crush them and pour them onto a shallow plate. Roll the honey chèvre into the crushed nuts, gently pressing the nuts so they stick to the cheese.